Based on a Ukrainian folk tale that also informed Mario Bava’s 1960 classic Mask Of The Demon, Viy sees a novice monk (Leonid Kuravlyov) assaulted  by a host of weird and wonderful demons while conducting a three-night vigil over the corpse of a witch.

Comprised of painterly backdrops and alive with the sounds of owls, dogs and crickets, this is a gorgeous, lyrical work – never more so than when it brings the fear.

Argh! The cock crows and the resurrected witch freezes, twitches and floats back into her coffin.

Remake rights: A new Russian production stars, er, Jason Flemyng, but there’s no sign of a UK release. So how about an English-language riff directed by The House Of The Devil’s Ti West?